Ben (narrator/author of the LessWrong post)

This position goes something like, this was never a real issue, only mad people think it ever was.

Don't worry, we physicists know what we are doing, nothing to see here.

You will not find this in a paper of course, but I see variations of this position in my Google searches and have heard it expressed in person.

There are many reasons this position is poisonous.

First, it seems to take a stance against asking questions and perhaps curiosity itself.

Second, it fails to actually provide the answer.

Which way do these people think the glass block slides as light propagates through it?

Finally, it is simply false.

People have disagreed on this issue and continue to disagree.

A disagreement in physics does not mean that we have a tribe of rabid insane cranks fighting an enlightened group of intelligent and respectable physicists.

One day this issue will be resolved, most likely one of the proposals in front of us at the moment will prove to be the answer, or most of the answer.

That will not make the people who studied this problem, on any side, retrospectively insane, bad physicists or unworthy of respect.

There is something to see here, a genuine disagreement on something fundamental about how light works, and I think that is exciting, and worthy of curiosity.

This article was narrated by Type 3 Audio for less wrong.

It was first published on October 9, 2024.

The original text contained 13 footnotes which were omitted from the narration.

Images from this article are included in the podcast episode description.

To report an issue or give feedback on this narration, go to t3a.is.